Poynter president Karen Dunlap attributed the loss to not receiving dividends from the Times.

"We had anticipated about $4 million in dividends. That's the single major factor," she said.

Beginning more than five years ago, the institute has increasingly moved to a self-funding model, shifting away from reliance on the Times for the bulk of its funding.

The loss was understandable, Dunlap said, given Poynter was going through its transition to self-funding "while maintaining a strong and important school and a strong and important news organization."

Dunlap said Poynter had previously asked for an extension to file the tax documents, and made the filing in November. It was recently published online by GuideStar, an information firm that specializes on reporting on U.S. nonprofit companies.

In 1975, Nelson Poynter, who owned the Times, founded the Modern Media Institute, which was later renamed for Poynter. It is a nonprofit institution offering journalism-related educational programs.

There is a reason why the air in Tampa Bay is filled with playoff talk. If Thursday night's 12-8 Bucs preseason win over the Jaguars is any indication, it's also going to be filled with footballs thrown by quarterback Jameis Winston.